Canada helping to fund South Sudan vote despite growing repression

Open this photo in gallery:The South Sudanese flag. A vote planned for this December would be the first for the African country since it achieved independence in 2011, but there are growing concerns about repression by the sitting government.ANDREEA CAMPEANU/ReutersOttawa says it is helping to finance preparations for South Sudan’s planned December election despite its “deep concerns” about political restrictions that could prevent the vote from being credible.The much-delayed election would be the first since South Sudan achieved independence in 2011. Canada has spent more than $1.1-billion in foreign aid supporting the country since then, but its government has continued to jail opponents and entrench power in the hands of President Salva Kiir and his family.“Many of the safeguards and conditions for peaceful and credible polls are still missing,” United Nations human-rights commissioner Barney Afako warned after a visit to the country last month. “Political and civic space has narrowed.”If the election goes ahead without the conditions needed for free participation, it could “fuel renewed conflict and increase the risk of atrocity crimes,” the commission said in a report.Open this photo in gallery:South Sudan's President Salva Kiir in 2023.Gregorio Borgia/The Associated PressGlobal Affairs Canada says it is contributing about $1.3-million to a UN-managed fund to support electoral preparedness in South Sudan, including voter education and community peacebuilding.But the department says it is deeply concerned about the election, including unresolved security problems, delays in the country’s peace agreement and restrictions on civic and political space – “all of which could affect the credibility of the electoral process,” Global Affairs spokesperson Renelle Arsenault told The Globe and Mail.South Sudan was strongly supported by Western governments when it separated from Sudan, becoming the world’s newest country. But war erupted in 2013, killing hundreds of thousands of people, and clashes have continued in recent years despite a 2018 peace agreement. Elections in the impoverished country have been repeatedly postponed, allowing Mr. Kiir to remain in power.Much of the violent conflict is between factions aligned with Mr. Kiir and those backing his rival, Riek Machar, who has been vice-president for most of the past 15 years. Last year, Mr. Machar was arrested, suspended from his post and charged with treason. He remains on trial today.Open this photo in gallery:South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar in 2020.Samir Bol/ReutersThe government is pushing ahead with the election despite the absence of a national census or a permanent constitution, both of which were listed as electoral requirements in the 2018 peace deal. There is also no voter registry, which casts further doubt on the election.“Any endorsement by international partners for holding elections under current political conditions would be counterproductive,” said a report last month by Guyo Chepe Turi and Said Abdullahi, two researchers at the Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.“It would signal acquiescence in dismantling the 2018 deal, risking a reversal of hard-won progress.”Any future Canadian support for the election will depend on the status of the peace agreement, the political and security situation, the inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral process and whether the conditions are in place to ensure that the vote contributes to peace and stability, Ms. Arsenault said.Canada is not the only country to voice its concern. The head of the European Union delegation to South Sudan, Pelle Enarsson, said the EU has not yet allocated any funds to support the vote because the government has not disclosed a clear budget or plan. Funding would depend on whether the electoral process is inclusive and credible, he told journalists recently.Last month, Mr. Kiir dismantled the unity government – a power-sharing arrangement from the peace agreement − and appointed a new government filled with his loyalists. He has promoted his son, Major-General Atem Salva Kiir, to command the elite Presidential Guard, known as the Tiger Division, and has named other family members to senior posts in the Defence Department and the National Election Commission.These moves have triggered alarm that his aim is to “consolidate power with the goal of managing a dynastic succession,” International Crisis Group analyst Daniel Akech said in a report this week.Since its independence, South Sudan has received more than US$23-billion in oil revenue and US$27-billion in foreign aid from donors, but it remains one of the world’s poorest countries, largely because predatory officials have looted billions of dollars, a UN commission reported last year.Violent conflict, meanwhile, has pushed millions of people from their homes. A senior official of the World Food Programme, Matthew Hollingworth, said last month that the situation is “catastrophic,” with 7.8 million South Sudanese – almost two-thirds of the population – struggling daily to find enough food to survive.Because of widespread cuts in donor assistance over the past year, the budgets of relief agencies are rapidly declining and “about to drop off the financial cliff,” Mr. Hollingworth said. “The government of South Sudan has to start mobilizing their own funds to support their own people.”